[Introduced February 14, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §5-10-48 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to increasing the cap on earnings
during temporary reemployment after retirement.Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-10-48 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.§5-10-48. Reemployment after retirement; options for holder of
elected public office.
(a) The Legislature finds that a compelling state interest
exists in maintaining an actuarially sound retirement system and
that this interest necessitates that certain limitations be placed
upon an individual's ability to retire from the system and to then
later return to state employment as an employee with a
participating public employer while contemporaneously drawing an
annuity from the system. The Legislature hereby further finds and declares that the interests of the public are served when persons
having retired from public employment are permitted, within certain
limitations, to render post-retirement employment in positions of
public service, either in elected or appointed capacities. The
Legislature further finds and declares that it has the need for
qualified employees and that in many cases an employee of the
Legislature will retire and be available to return to work for the
Legislature as a per diem employee. The Legislature further finds
and declares that in many instances these employees have
particularly valuable expertise which the Legislature cannot find
elsewhere. The Legislature further finds and declares that
reemploying these persons on a limited per diem basis after they
have retired is not only in the best interests of this state, but
has no adverse effect whatsoever upon the actuarial soundness of
this particular retirement system.
(b) For the purposes of this section: (1) ôRegularly employed
on a full-time basisö means employment of an individual by a
participating public employer, in a position other than as an
elected or appointed public official, which normally requires
twelve months per year service and at least one thousand forty
hours of service per year in that position; (2) ôtemporary
full-time employment or temporary part-time employmentö means
employment of an individual on a temporary or provisional basis by
a participating public employer, other than as an elected or appointed public official, in a position which does not otherwise
render the individual as regularly employed; (3) ôformer employee
of the Legislatureö means any person who has retired from
employment with the Legislature and who has at least ten years'
contributing service with the Legislature; and (4) ôreemployed by
the Legislatureö means a former employee of the Legislature who has
been reemployed on a per diem basis not to exceed one hundred
seventy-five days per calendar year.
(c) In the event a retirant becomes regularly employed on a
full-time basis by a participating public employer, payment of his
or her annuity shall be suspended during the period of his or her
reemployment and he or she shall become a contributing member to
the retirement system. If his or her reemployment is for a period
of one year or longer, his or her annuity shall be recalculated and
he or she shall be granted an increased annuity due to the
additional employment, the annuity to be computed according to
section twenty-two of this article. A retirant may accept
temporary full-time or temporary part-time employment from a
participating employer without suspending his or her retirement
annuity so long as he or she does not receive annual compensation
in excess of $15,000: Provided, That a retirant may be employed by
the Legislature on a per diem basis without suspension of the
retirement annuity if the retirant's annual compensation from the
Legislature does not exceed $20,000.
(d) In the event a member retires and is then subsequently
elected to a public office or is subsequently appointed to hold an
elected public office, or is a former employee of the Legislature
who has been reemployed by the Legislature, he or she has the
option, notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, to either:
(1) Continue to receive payment of his or her annuity while
holding public office or during any reemployment of a former
employee of the Legislature on a per diem basis, in addition to the
salary he or she may be entitled to as an office holder or as a per
diem reemployed former employee of the Legislature; or
(2) Suspend the payment of his or her annuity and become a
contributing member of the retirement system as provided in
subsection (c) of this section. Notwithstanding the provisions of
this subsection, a member who is participating in the system as an
elected public official may not retire from his or her elected
position and commence to receive an annuity from the system and
then be elected or reappointed to the same position unless and
until a continuous twelve-month period has passed since his or her
retirement from the position: Provided, That a former employee of
the Legislature may not be reemployed by the Legislature on a per
diem basis until at least sixty days after the employee has
retired: Provided, however, That the limitation on compensation
provided by subsection (c) of this section does not apply to the
reemployed former employee: Provided further, That in no event may reemployment by the Legislature of a per diem employee exceed one
hundred seventy-five days per calendar year.
(e) A member who is participating in the system simultaneously
as both a regular, full-time employee of a participating public
employer and as an elected or appointed member of the legislative
body of the state or any political subdivision may, upon meeting
the age and service requirements of this article, elect to retire
from his or her regular full-time state employment and may commence
to receive an annuity from the system without terminating his or
her position as a member of the legislative body of the state or
political subdivision: Provided, That the retired member shall
not, during the term of his or her retirement and continued service
as a member of the legislative body of a political subdivision, be
eligible to continue his or her participation as a contributing
member of the system and shall not continue to accrue any
additional service credit or benefits in the system related to the
continued service.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of section twenty-seven-b
of this article, any publicly elected member of the legislative
body of any political subdivision or of the State Legislature, the
Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of the Senate may
elect to commence receiving in-service retirement distributions
from this system upon attaining the age of seventy and one-half
years: Provided, That the member is eligible to retire under the provisions of section twenty or twenty-one of this article:
Provided, however, That the member elects to stop actively
contributing to the system while receiving the in-service
distributions.
(g) The provisions of section twenty-two-h of this article are
not applicable to the amendments made to this section during the
2006 Regular Session.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase from $15,000 to
$20,000 the annual amount a state retiree may earn in temporary
reemployment with a participating employer while continuing to
receive a retirement annuity. Those temporarily reemployed by the
Legislature who are not former employees of the Legislature
currently have a $20,000 annual cap.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.